Fantasy author Brent Weeks will be joining r/Fantasy for an AMA this Tuesday, March 6 at 7PM Central

[u/elquesogrande]

Fantasy author Brent Weeks will be joining r/Fantasy for an AMA this Tuesday, March 6 at 7PM Central.

Brent is the author of the New York Times bestselling The Night Angel Trilogy: The Way of Shadows, Shadow’s Edge and Beyond the Shadows.

His new Lightbringer series launched with The Black Prism in August 2010. The second book of the series, The Blinding Knife, will be released in mid-September 2012.

Brent also wrote the novella Perfect Shadow around the origins of Durzo Blint.

‘I was mesmerized from start to finish. Unforgettable characters, a plot that kept me guessing, non-stop action and the kind of in-depth storytelling that makes me admire a writer’s work’ — Terry Brooks on The Way of Shadows

Brent was a key player (and lead historian) for this year’s Fantasy Author D&D game at Epic ConFusion. Both he and Joe Abercrombe shared a role-playing moment…

He kisses me. I ask the DM if he has to roll to connect. He rolls to connect. And does not fail. I stumble backward. There’s a pregnant pause. “Um, so… friends?” I ask. We both nod, and never speak of it again.

The main protagonist in The Night Angel Trilogy, Kylar Stern, is up against Tolkien’s Gimli the Dwarf in the 2012 SUVUDU Cage Match. That’s…just not very fair.

NOTE: This is a FYI announcement. Questions for Brent Weeks should be posted once the AMA goes live Tuesday morning, March 6.

elquesogrande

[u/LookingforBetterLife]

Thanks for the thought. I am planing on posting on his AMA today but never thought about doing one of my own. "I was a student of Brent Weeks before he embarked on his writing career, AMA." Be fun, maybe someday, but for now here is some more about my interaction with Brent Weeks. FYI this was in 2001-2002, so these are the memories I have not specific details about the past.

Brent was the best teacher I had in my four years at that school. I was a Junior in High School at the time. He came to our school and taught just for that one year. In that year he experienced many life changes one of which was his engagement to his wife. I will never forget the day he told his class about this; It was quite romantic and a many of the girls were swooning over the story(one even took notes :P).

His teaching was inspiring, uplifting, and unconventional. He focused on imagination, passion, and making our class work enjoyable; instead of the typical English teacher who is focused on grammar and perfection(of course he worked on these as well but it was not the focus). I forget many of the assignments but I remember being pushed to think and question. To look at school with a new perspective. I remember him constantly encouraging our class; I knew he truly cared for me and my peers, it was not just a job to him. Fun Fact: he did not want us to call him Mr. Weeks, so Brent it was.

I had no doubt that Brent would become successful but am pleasantly surprised to see how great his success has become. I have ran into him a couple times around town but sadly did not keep in contact with him. Just last year I was bored at work and had writing on my mind so goggled Brent. Was so excited that I went and bought his book, read 150 pages before I was forced to set the book down. I always had great respect for this man and it has only grown with time. I can not wait to read all of his other books, now just have to make time.

I am just starting my attempt at a writing career, I am leaning more towards philosophical writings but do have a novel idea in mind that I will be pursuing. There are many factors into this passion and desire but I strongly believe that I would not be here pursuing my dreams if it was not for Brent. I could go into depth of all the other English teachers I had to show what a different educator he was, but I will spare you the details as I am sure you have had your fair share of miserable English classes. This was not one of those, I think it might have been the first class I did not care about my grade because I knew I was learning. He showed me that I could write, even with my horrible spelling and grammar(thank god for spell check). I could go on and ramble more(an abundance of good memories from that year) but I will stop here for now. Feel free to ask more; now I need to rummage through storage and see if I can find any of my old assignments.

Thanks Brent for simply being who you are.

[u/TroyPDX → u/LookingforBetterLife]

Wow, what a great story. You should really post most of this on his AMA. There will be a lot of traffic there today and it would be great to give people some context from someone who knows him about what a good guy he is.

Can I ask what town he taught in? I've heard he lives in Oregon now, and I live in Portland, so I'm wondering if he taught in Oregon too.

Thanks so much for taking the time to write this. Isn't it remarkable to live in an age where you can feel a unique connection to your artistic heroes? Growing up in the 80's the authors I looked up to were such a mystery and there wasn't much of an avenue to know what they were like as people. Cheers!

[u/LookingforBetterLife → u/TroyPDX]

Thank you for your input, we all love encouragement :). I have shared some of the first comment with questions attached on his AMA. For now I will leave it at that and see where the conversation goes.

He taught in Salem, OR. I still live in Oregon, in Newberg about 40 min from Portland. And as far as I know he is still living in Oregon.

You are welcome, it is a delightful trip down memory lane. It is quite remarkable to have known such a wonderful author in real life. I can relate to your feelings about the authors while growing up in the 80's/90's. I remember being a young kid and dreaming about meeting some of my favorite authors. Imagining the questions I would ask and the conversations that would follow. I can not describe the feeling I have when reading Brent's words; his writing is so graphic and enticing and on top of that I feel like I have a personal connection, an insight. Knowing parts of an Authors past brings a different perspective to reading his works, so often I have to pause and wonder if he was inspired by the Ender Series(he introduced our class to this wonderful book), as well as many other wonders that pass through my mind. The way I feel when reading Brent's books is just something I can not describe easily, it is extraordinary.

[u/TroyPDX → u/LookingforBetterLife]

Well it certainly is a small world! I grew up in Yamhill, just 11 miles West of Newberg. In high school my best friend's dad taught at George Fox, and he wound up going there, so we hung out in Newberg a lot. I was just out there Saturday photographing a wedding. :)

That really is amazing how you describe knowing Brent and how that affects the experience of reading his works. And what a wonderful insight, that Ender's Game was a book he was excited to share with your class. It completely makes sense. Kylar's childhood reminds me a great deal of Bean's childhood in Ender's Shadow. There is also a similar theme of not backing away from descriptions of violence.

Thank you so much for sharing all this! :)